Wesley J. Smith

A case in NJ (Betancourt v. Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Docket No. C-12-09), in which the family of a 73-year-old man diagnosed to be in a persistent vegetative state sued a hospital attempting to unilaterally withdraw extensive life support, has been decided by a judge. Properly, the trial . . . . Continue Reading »

This is a follow up report about an urgent futile care threat we warned against twice last week at SHS (here and here): After being caught flat footed with the passage of S. 1114 through the Idaho Senate—a bill that would, in part, legalize futile care theory in Idaho and specifically . . . . Continue Reading »

Compassion and Choices, the assisted suicide advocacy group, has admitted to undermining proper hospice care. That’s not how they put it, of course. It brags that nearly 100% of Oregon assisted suicides last year—88% with which their representatives were involved—were in hospice. . . . . Continue Reading »

Compassion and Choices, the assisted suicide advocacy group, has admitted to undermining proper hospice care. That’s not how they put it, of course. Instead, the group brags that nearly 100% of Oregon assisted assisted suicides last year— 88% with which their representatives were . . . . Continue Reading »

What is it with animal rights activists and nudity? Spanish liberationists have gone naked to protest a Canadian seal hunt. From the story: Around 100 people stripped naked and lay on the ground in a central Madrid square on Sunday as part of an international day of protest against Canada’s . . . . Continue Reading »

The assisted suicide law called the Oregon Death with Dignity Act—as if dying without poisoning yourself to death isn’t dignified—should instead be called the Oregon Compassion and Choices Assisted Suicide Enabling Act. It turns out that representatives of the assisted suicide . . . . Continue Reading »

The deficiencies in the UK’s health system are varied and many. And still, euthanasia advocates there push for assisted suicide to be legalized. But the Guardian—a left-wing paper—has just reported that the inability of UK patients to gain access good pain control is scandalous. . . . . Continue Reading »

Apparently every aberrant behavior is to be normalized, including sex with animals: First it was Peter Singer claiming that bestiality was just two animals rubbing body parts. Then a movie was released sympathetic to the cause. Now, bioethicist Jacob M. Appel, who has called for allowing assisted . . . . Continue Reading »

Geron recently obtained FDA permission to try using a potentially risky embryonic stem cell derived treatment developed to treat acute spinal cord injury in a human trial to test the safety of the product. But it turns out that a patient’s own adult stem cells appear to already provide the . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s a bitter irony: A suicide prevention program from the State of Washington has been nationally recognized as an effective resource in saving lives. From the story:A Washington curriculum for suicide prevention has been recognized by a national resource center as a model program.The Help . . . . Continue Reading »